A Song of Frost and Snow
by kromm
Summary: The Night's Watch has been hearing of strange goings on in the north. When Jon and Sam are sent to investigate, they find nothing that they are expecting. Strange symbols, strange women and strange creatures abound in this Thor/Game of Thrones crossover. Slash Jon/Loki. Rating may change.


_A/N: This is a first time collaboration between a pair of friends inspired by the unfortunate lack of Snowki fanfics out there. We will try to update regularly and are always open to constructive criticism. Reviews are welcome. Please let us know what you think!_

_Disclaimer: None of the following characters belong to me, nor does the universe this takes place in. All characters represented in this fiction are above the age of 18._

Jon Snow looked over his shoulder, getting one last glimpse of the land south of the Wall as the gate at his back slid closed. He was going out for a patrol, set to be in the cold and snow of the North for months. _Longer, if anything goes wrong_, he thought to himself, pulling his attention back to his fellow Watchmen. They were heading out in force, riding two by two on horseback down the tunnel that led out of Castle Black. The pack on Jon's back jostled as his horse fell into step alongside Samwell Tarly as they entered into the cold, unforgiving mistress of the North.

They had matching expressions, grim and somber. They had been hearing reports for weeks about creatures of insurmountable size. These creatures, towering a few meters higher than the treeline, were said to appear out of nowhere and looked as though the snow itself had grown legs. However, they were scarcely seen for more than a few seconds at a time and they left no indication that they had ever been. The few who had seen it were afraid to tell anyone, fearful that they would be labeled insane. Jon and Sam knew that there was probably some truth to these tales. Only the Gods knew what The Land of Always Winter held. Most of the other Watchmen hadn't been told why they were being sent out on patrol. Cold, dark nights bred fear and gossip, and the men would be frightened enough as it was. Looking around, Jon realized that a lot of the men he was riding out on patrol with were new recruits. They hadn't been seasoned, hadn't proven themselves. This was their first excursion past the wall.

He sighed in resignation. Sam glanced over. "Jon?"

"Yes, Sam?"

"Is something the matter? Are you scared?"

"Look around us, Sam. There isn't much to be scared of now, is there?" he nudged his chin towards the other Watchmen, lowering his voice. "They're all new recruits. This mission could very well be hard enough without us having to make sure this lot doesn't cut their own dicks off in their sleep."

Sam chuckled and they fell into companionable silence for a moment before Sam turned back to Jon. "How many of them do you think will be coming back? When this is all over, I mean?" he asked quietly.

Jon shook his head. "I think it's too early to think about that." He glanced around again. "A lot of these boys won't ever see the Wall again, Sam." He closed his eyes. The faces of the dead men who accompanied Jon on his first patrol flashed before him and his chest burned. None of them had blood families, as dictated by the oath they all swore, but they had all been brothers when the left Castle Black that day. _And now his watch is ended_. Jon opened his eyes. He knew that as time passed, more and more faces would be added to those of the deceased. That was a hazard that they had all accepted when they took the oath, but, at least for Jon, it was easier to accept the reality of his own mortality than those of his comrades. Sam watched, seeing pain decorating his brother's face. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

Jon was brought back to reality with Sam's words. He shook himself, banishing the traces of emotion from his countenance before forcing a smile and looking back at Sam wordlessly. He kicked his horse, speeding up and riding past him into the frigid North.

The village around Jon seemed to be abandoned. He furrowed his brow, looking around to the multitude of empty houses and shops_. Where could they all have gone_? They had reached Whitetree within a few days, and the normally bustling wildling settlement was silent and dark. Many of the houses hadn't even been emptied before the inhabitants left. Walking through the village you could see half-eaten plates of food on the table; rabbit haunches with a few bites taken out; chicken coops left open. It was as if everyone had dropped what they were doing and fled. Any tracks to show which direction they were headed had been obliterated with snow and wind. All that they had were speculations with no clues.

Sam came up to him. "I don't like this, Jon. I don't like it at all."

"Neither do I. Why would they just abandon everything? Food is hard to come by out here. Wouldn't they at least have brought some of that?" Jon speculated.

Sam shrugged, nudging a rotten squirrel off a plate and onto the snow-coated floor of the hut. "Something had to have scared them. They wouldn't leave without food unless staying behind would be even worse."

The silence after Sam's statement hung in the air between them for a few moments as it sunk in how true it would be. Jon looked to his memories of the place_. There were children here, and even wildlings have parental instincts. They wouldn't take their children out into this weather without supplies unless their survival chances were better off than staying behind, even long enough to grab basic necessities. Whatever it was that drove them out didn't give them enough time to prepare._

_They're all probably dead now._

Looking around, Jon saw Pyp and Grenn standing not too far off. He motioned for them to come over. "Keep your voices down and listen to me. Something drove these people off. We need to know what it is that we're going to keep an eye out for. You two head east and circle around south and see if you can find anything. Stay close enough you can get back safely if you do happen to see something." He turned to Sam. "You and I will go west." Addressing Pyp and Grenn again, he continued, "Meet back here tonight. And in the name of the Old Gods don't let any of the new recruits see you leaving. Don't panic them any more than this village already has."

The pair looked at each other for a moment. Grenn spoke up. "Some of the recruits are already asking questions. They don't know what to expect north of the wall. They've only heard rumors and old wives' tales. None of that prepared them for an entire abandoned village, and we don't have an explanation to give them. This caught us by surprise too. If we can't tell them something, they're going to panic and desert."

Jon thought for a moment and then made a disgruntled sound. "We'll see what we can find around the village. When we finish up, we can meet with the Lord Commander and report our findings. He'll decide what we tell the others." The pair nodded and walked off.

Jon led Sam around town leisurely, heading west without drawing any attention to their departure. The Lord Commander had ordered they stay in the village for the night, citing that "no one else is using it". Jon wrinkled his nose at the thought. While he understood the practicality of it, he did not like the idea of sleeping in a dead man's house. The further west they headed, the thicker the trees became. The village soon turned to specks between the trees. He turned to say something to Sam and discovered himself alone. Sam must have just wandered off, he thought to himself. Jon looked around further and something caught his eye. It looked to be something large and black on the ground. Jon drew his sword and slowly walked closer. When he got close enough to make out what it was, he put his sword away and stared in a mixture of confusion and awe.

The snow had been pushed back, baring the frozen remains of the grass. The smell of the scorched ground wafted towards his nose. Burned into the ground was an intricate symbol. It appeared to be almost tribal in nature, its lines weaving into such an ornate pattern it made Jon dizzy to look at it for too long. Whatever it was, it couldn't have been man-made. In these temperatures, it would be almost impossible to sear the ground in such a way. "Sam!" he called out. "Come and have a look at this!"

Sam appeared to his right, not noticing the ground at first. Jon gestured to it and his attention quickly changed focus. He stared wordlessly at the symbol and Jon kept quiet, seeing that his friend was in thought. After a few moments, Jon asked, "Have you ever seen anything like this before?"

Sam was silent for a moment before nodding. "They described it in books. It appeared outside of King's Landing once. It was a long time ago, when the Targaryens still had the Iron Throne. No one ever knew where it came from or why it was there. Some said it was dark magic at work, others said it was left by dragons. All saw it as an ill omen." Sam shifted his gaze to Jon. "What is it?" he murmured.

"I don't know," Jon replied. "But I don't like it."


End file.
